We didn't officially close or cover it last year, and I guess I should have expected some problems this year for not doing so... My water is a cloudy mess. I went to the local pool store and told them we didn't cover it. They gave us some super algaecide and super soluble and told us to add it to the water. We poured the algecide in and half of the super soluble. We let that circulate for about 4 hours and then poured the rest of the super soluble in. It definitely lightened up, but is just cloudy cloudy cloudy. I went back to the pool store and they tested the water and gave me another jug of the super soluble. Added it... and a day later it's still cloudy. Now my filters been running since Saturday 24/7 (that's 5 days) and with all the chemicals added... and it's still cloudy. It's possible there could be some leaves at the bottom of the pool, but I can't see and I would think I would be able to at least see some darker patches if there were leaves down there. I checked this morning and my ph is low, my alkalinity is low and the stabalizer is low and the chlorine is high. I just don't even know what to do now!! *sigh*

You can get this cleared up. Please post your actual readings for everything and we can help you get those levels up. Also, include the type of pool, ie plaster, vinyl, fiberglass and the pool volume.

If you do this, we can tell you how to raise or lower your levels and get back in balance. Once in balance it should only take you a minute or so per day to keep it that way and maybe 1/2 hour on the weekends.

On a hunch, due to me NOT covering my pool last year, I decided to push around a leaf catcher and my hubby and I pulled out about 8-10 bags of leaves. Now the water isn't cloudy anymore... it's green again.

I'm going to assume your pool is around 20,000 gallons. You didn't give me the pool volume, nor enough information to calculate. So you will need to figure your volume. Knowing your pool volume is very important for dosing.

Based on 20,000 gallons: (adjust according to your volume)

You need to get that pH and TA up pronto! Going below 7.0 can cause permanent puckers and wrinkles in your vinyl. TA buffers pH

Add 18 pounds of sodium bicarbonate from the pool store - or this is the same thing as Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (yellow box in the baking supplies aisle)

Don't feel bad, I had a ripped cover and opening the pool this year was a small nightmare. Took about a week to get the pool cleaned, any heavy debris on the bottom will make it harder. Lesson learned for this year, we will be investing in a new cover.